JOAN PALOU, FOUNDRYMAN AND MASTER CANNON MAKER OF THE CITY OF BARCELONA AT THE END OF THE 15 CENTURY

In the Late Middle Ages, artillery became a key element of military tactics. Monarchy, nobility and government institutions were aware of the need to employ the services of craftsmen specialised in the art of building, repairing and using firearms. This study analyses the working and professional reality of these craftsmen using the biography of the Barcelona foundryman and cannon maker, Joan Palou. The numerous written sources located in the Historical Archive of the City and in the Archive of Notarial Protocols, have made it possible to trace a detailed portrait of his professional activity —and thus, of the first cannon makers— in the early days of artillery making. The inventory of his widow’s goods, made in 1526 and transcribed at the end of the article, offers a detailed description of the craftsman’s workshop and his work tools, of his personal property and real estate and of the documentary archive he kept in a corner of his house.

1Catalan historiography, and Hispanic historiography in general, has devoted little attention to the study of copper-based metal crafts. In spite of recognising the importance of this area in the research of medieval culture and society, the works published until today are scarce and often offer a fragmentary view. The archaeological excavations carried out in the last thirty years have made it possible to document a good number of medieval structures related to copper metallurgy. 2 At the same time, medievalist historians have published a considerable corpus of documents related to the activity 3 and to the objects produced by coppersmiths -mainly bells 4 and pieces of artillery. 5 The study also draws on written sources and its main objective is to delve into one of the least known craftsmen collectives of medieval Barcelona.
Aware of the strategic value of the arms industry, government institutions promoted specific policies to control and stimulate the metallurgy industry and enacted a series of privileges and tax concessions designed to benefit the transforming industry: for example, the exemption from taxes on ironworks used in the construction of galleys (1367), the components of swords and crossbows (1370), and the construction of bombards (1397). 6 Monarchy, nobility and government institutions were made aware of the need for the services of craftsmen specialised in the art of building, repairing and using firearms. The Diputació del General de Catalunya and the City Council of Barcelona had their own cannon maker at least since the mid-14 th century. The first craftsmen to carry out the job were blacksmiths. However, in the mid-fifteenth century, and as a result of the development of bronze artillery, the appointment of blacksmiths decreases in favour of foundrymen.
The main mission of the cannon maker of the General Council was to build and maintain the necessary artillery for the royal army service. 7 The municipal artillery maker, however, alternated the role of cannon maker with other roles within his trade. Thus, in addition to artillery work, locksmiths and foundrymen took orders designed to meet the daily needs of buildings managed by the municipality, the city mint or the public network of water sources, canals and ditches. Although the municipal cannon makers were not entitled to a salary, the position guaranteed them a stable source of income and permanent contact with the most important institutions in the city. Iron artillery was a specialty of blacksmiths, and bronze was that of the courers ("coppersmiths") or buydadors ("casters"), craftsmen specialised in the casting techniques of copper-based metals. 8 Bronze, which is lighter, more flexible and more resistant to corrosion than iron, offered better safety features, as it did not explode into shrapnel. In addition, its manufacturing process, based on moulding and seriation, was much more agile and permitted a better response to production demands during periods of war.
Despite the diversity of trades associated with metallurgy of copper, the sector was divided into two large groups determined by the size of the products manufactured and, consequently, by the capacity of their workshops. Foundrymen producing 6. Duran i Sanpere, Agustí. "La documentació del Col·legi de Mestres Manyans, Armers i Agullers de Barcelona". Recull de Documents i Estudis, 1 (1920): 75-76. 7. The accounts book of the Generalitat de Catalunya states that their mission was to produce bombardes, buçons, colobrines e totes altres coses de coure qui fossen necessàries al dit General ("bombards, battering rams, culverins and other copper things necessary to this general"). Dietaris de la Generalitat de Catalunya. Barcelona: Generalitat de Catalunya, 1994: I, 158. 8. Amenós, Lluïsa. "Copper artisans in  small objects had limited infrastructure and a small number of tools. Within this group were the freners ("makers of equestrian equipment"), quincallers ("makers of personal adornments, button-makers, thimble-makers"), the guaspers ("ferrule makers"), the sivellers ("manufacturers of buckles and ornamental appliques"), etc. They tended to unionise with the freners, with whom they shared common needs, such as their close relationships with the leather craftsmen.
Unlike these craftsmen, the cannon makers and bellfounders required greater technical specialisation and an infrastructure suitable for the casting of large pieces. Their catalogue of products ranged from artillery pieces, bells and architectural components such as large doors and gates, to furniture, sculptures, mortars, candelabras or taps. They were associated with the Confraria fabrorum Barchinone, a guild corporation born in 1380 in response to the needs of the various trades related to the iron industry. 9 Foundrymen producing large pieces had to maintain union links with the blacksmiths for professional and fiscal reasons if we remember that, since 1397, they had the royal privilege that granted tax exemption to cannon makers.
Bronze cannon makers also appear to be associated with the manufacture of watches and hydraulic devices. For example, Bernat Vidal, creator of the first mechanical clock in the city of Barcelona and various hydraulic devices for the Estany del Port, the irrigation canal (Rec Comtal) and the orchard of the Royal Palace. Upon his death, which occurred around 1473, the king himself praised his practical skills: les arts mecàniques que ell entre d'altres cultivà. 10 This comment clearly illustrates the respect that medieval society had for the cannon makers' knowledge and their technical skills and that, although they never obtained the status of liberal art, they did enjoy the privileged status granted by scientia and ingenium.
The casting of cannons in Barcelona was carried out outdoors, in open spaces or spaces that belonged to the city: we know, for example, that in 1486 Aloy Roca prepared the casting of a new bombard in the botiga ("warehouse") of Sant Daniel, near the Pla d'En Lull. The city had an arsenal in the Shipyard, with a bombarderia for the storage of numerous pieces of iron and bronze artillery that we know of through an inventory made in 1465. 11 We have knowledge of the fact that, on the 18 th of August 1509, another bombard was cast en un hort del costat del studi (refering to the university or Estudi General), prop del portal de Sanct Sever. 12 This space could be located in what is currently Rambla dels Estudis, in the section close to Plaça Catalunya and Carrer Pelai. In the year 1518, the Councillors of the City decided to buy the aforementioned site in Pla d'en Llull to use it as a park or artillery depot. 13 9. Amenós, Lluïsa. "'Confraria fabrorum . "the mechanical arts which, among others, he cultivated". Vinyoles i Vidal, Teresa M. "Bernat Vidal, rellotger i 'enginyer' barceloní del segle XV". Acta Historica et Archaeologica Mediaevalia, 23-24 (2002): 612. 11. Carreras Candi, Francesc. "Les Dreçanes barcelonines, sos inventaris y restauració". Butlletí del Centre Excursionista de Catalunya, 38/392 (1928): 23-24. 12. "in an orchard next to the Studio [General], near the Saint Sever entrance". Gudiol i Cunill, Josep. "D'artilleria catalana antiga... ": 6. 13. AHCB. Fons Municipals. Registre de Deliberacions (01.12.1516-27.11.1518 At the beginning of the 16 th century, the municipal government became aware of the need to equip itself with infrastructures and personnel specialised in the manufacture and maintenance of artillery. 14 The first earnings of master artillery makers are documented around 1532, but it is between 1540 and 1560 that the number of such payments increase as a result of the opening of the School of Artillery of Barcelona: 15 on July 30 th 1551, After his entry into the collective of artillery craftmen, the foundry worker, Antoni Fenodi, sold all his tools and ammunition to Emperor Charles V, 16 and in 1578, the municipal council discussed building a foundry and an arsenal in front of the shipyard, near the city wall . The foundry was finally located in the current Rambla de Sant Josep, near the Porta Ferrissa entrance, in a warehouse built by the master builder, Jaume Brufal. 17

The master foundryman, Joan Palou
Joan Palou came from a long line of coppersmiths that were active in Barcelona at least from the late fourteenth century. The documentation discovered so far gives us data of four individuals dedicated to this same profession and probably related to the same family unit, although it is difficult to establish the degree of kinship. The first of them is the bellfounder Pere Palou, creator of the Honorata bell of the Barcelona Cathedral, installed in the Torre de les Hores in the year 1393. 18 The second is Dalmau Palou, documented between 1433 and 1434 due to the casting and installation of the bell in Santa María de Mediona Church. 19 In 1440 it is noted that the master bell and bombard founder, Bartomeu Palou, worked for the city of Barcelona 20 and on February 4 th 1461, after the death of Mateu de L'Om, he was named Bombarder del General. 21 In the accounts book of the 14. Medina y Ávila, Carlos J. "De la Escuela a la Academia. Los centros de formación de artilleros". Revista de Historia Militar, Extra 1 (2014): 26. 15. AHCB. Fons Municipals. Registre de Deliberacions (30.11.1530 -27.11.1532), f. 200. 16. Amenós, Lluïsa. "Antoni Fenodi, maestro artillero de la Ciudad de Barcelona",in preparation. 17. Gudiol i Cunill, Josep. "D'artilleria catalana antiga... ": 6. 18. Carreras Candi, Francesc. "Las obras de la Catedral de Barcelona. 1298-1445". Boletín de la Real Academia de Buenas Letras, 50 (1913Letras, 50 ( -1914. The bell was installed on May 14 th , 1434. Mas i Domènech, Josep. Notes històriques del bisbat de Barcelona, Barcelona: tip. J. Vives, 1906: I, 112-113 (appendices 1 and 2). 20. Vinyoles i Vidal, Teresa M. "Bernat Vidal, rellotger... ": 605, n. 20. 21. In 1404, the master bellfounder of Barcelona, Mateu de l'Olm, requested residence in the town of Cervera for a period of twenty years, but cancelled it in 1427, claiming he wanted to return to Barcelona. However, he continues to appear in the documentation from Cervera until the middle of the 15 th century.
In the year 1424, he made the bell called Na Talons d'Ase for the church of Santa Maria de Cervera. On October 9 th , 1424, he signed pacts with Pere Safont to make two bells for the same church, which are still preserved: the main bell and the Carranca. Both depict a heraldic shield centered by an om ("elm"), which has been associated with this master craftsman. The first bell bears a legend that says: Matheus de Olmo, magister cimballorum, villae Cervariae, me fecit anno nativitate Domini millesimo quadringentesimo vicesimo Generalitat de Catalunya -former Diputació del General-it specifies that his job was to create the artillery. 22 In 1425, a Joan Palou is documented in Vic (hereinafter Joan Palou I), together with a cimbaler ("bellfounder") from Barcelona, called Pere Safont, in relation to an order of various copper pots by the coppersmith, Rodrigo de Calatayud, from Vic. 23 The following year he is documented again under the same concept, but this time with the bellfounder, Mateu Nol. 24 Most probably, his presence in Vic can be associated with the production of a bell. 25 In 1460 we hear of Joan Palou again, related this time to the death of the painter Jaume Vergós I. The friendship between the Palou and the Vergós families is evident in the inventory of the deceased painter's property, made on July 29 th , 1460. In it, a figure of San Miguel is registered that belonged to Palou, lo courer. 26 Jaume Vergós, father and son, held the title of painters of flags and shields of the Consell de Cent (Council of One Hundred) and worked in close collaboration with the Palous and other craftsmen linked to the municipality and the great buildings of the city. In 1473, they worked together on the production of a new head for the equestrian figure of Sant Jordi which presided over the first fountain of the cloister of the Cathedral: the goldsmith Berenguer Palou was commissioned to design it, Joan Palou to cast it and Jaume Vergós II to gild it. 27 Palou had previously worked for the Cathedral: On November 9 th , 1462, He received 1 lliura and 6 sous for casting four copper taps to the same fountain. 28 According to chronology, the Palou documented on this occasion would correspond to a generation younger than that registered in Vic and could be our protagonist.
quarto. Llobet i Portella, Josep Maria. "Les campanes de l'ésglésia Santa Maria de Cervera". Miscel·lània Cerverina, 16 (2003): 72-73 (doc. No. 16-19). 22. Dietaris de la Generalitat...: 158. 23. Riu de Martin,n. 59 and 60. 24. Safont signed the pacts to produce two bells for the church of Santa Maria de Cervera. Between 1431 and 1432, he produced another one for the cathedral of Vic, together with the cannon maker, Bartomeu Ferran. The latter worked on the bells of Santa Maria de Besora (1438), the seny of the lladre of the Cathedral of Vic (1459) together with his son-in-law, Joan de Tres Nichs-and the bell of the castle of Calafell (1462). His activity as a cannon maker runs parallel to the Civil War: we know that between the years 1462 and 1464 he sold a total of 19 bombards and blowguns.to the municipality. On August 8 th , 1463, he founded a copper bombard, baptized with the name of Santa Eulàlia, in an esplanade near the old Shipyard and on January 10 th , 1475, he created another one for King Juan II. See: Casals i Parladé, Judit. "Les campanes i el rellotge... " : 195-222. Gudiol i Cunill, Josep. "D'artilleria catalana antiga... ": 6. Sobrequés i Callicó, Jaume. La guerra civil catalana...: 248. 25. The acquisition of copper vessels shortly before founding a bell is documented, for example, in the cathedral of Barcelona or in the parish church of Bagà. Santandreu Soler, M. Dolors. "La construcció del seny major de Bagà". L' Erol, 42 (1993): 18. 26. The inventory of the property of the painter Jaume Vergós I was published by Duran i Sanpere, Agustí. Barcelona i la seva Història. Barcelona: Curial, 1975: III, 193, n. 7. 27. Amenós Martínez, Lluïsa. "L'activitat dels ferrers a la Seu de Barcelona entre el darrer terç del segle XIV i finals del segle XV". Estudis Històrics y Documents dels Arxius de Protocols, 25 (2007) Joan Palou was an active member of the blacksmiths' corporation in Barcelona: in 1477 he was listed as levador de l'almoyna of the Portal Nou, the neighbourhood where he lived. 29 Los llevadors de l'almoina were in charge of managing the ordinary accounts of the entity and were elected annually by all the members.
At the end of the 15 th century, Palou appears working in the main buildings of the city. We know for example that he cast numerous taps for public fountains for the monastery of Pedralbes, which was under the direct protection of the Consell de Cent (Council of One Hundred) by order of Queen Elisenda de Montcada. On October 22 nd , 1491, the master founder charged various amounts for gunpowder and taps per me facte ad opus fontum dicte Civitas, in addition to twenty sous for three axetarum cupri per sortidor. 30 On July 27 th 1499 we find documented once more, payment for two taps for the monastery of Pedralbes: one for the vegetable garden and another for the abbess. 31 On December 23 rd of that same year he received 1 lliura, 7 diners and 8 sous for casting various copper objects, among which is a bell that, according to the manuscript, the nuns usually rang when someone entered the convent. 32

Working as a master bellfounder
Bellfounding is one of Joan Palou's best documented activities. On October 5 th , 1486, this craftsman and the priest, Pere Ferrer, signed to cast the bell for the church of Sant Llorens d'Hortons. 33 The same day, he received 10 lliures from Barcelona as pro rata payment and first payment of the total of 30 pounds agreed.
Almost ten years later, on May 30 th , 1495, he signed another contract for the casting of a new bell for the missing temple of Sant Pere d'Octavià, located in the municipality of Sant Cugat del Vallès (see Annex 4.1.1). 34 The jurats ("municipal magistrates") Antoni Canals and Pere Saguera, and the worker Bartomeu Vilar acted in representation of the parish. The foundryman promised to cut the old bell and take it down from the bell tower and the representatives of the parish to move it to his workshop in Barcelona, with the aim of reusing the bronze in the new bell. 35 It was stipulated that the new bell would have a weight equal to or greater than the old one and its cost would amount to 16 Barcelona lliures ("pounds"). If the new one exceeded the weight of the former bell, the representatives of the parish would 29 bear the costs of two Barcelona sous per pound. If, on the other hand, it weighed less, the bellfounder would return the difference at the price of one sou per pound.
The installation of the new bell must have been carried out between the months of June and July of 1495, setting a six-month warranty to check its proper working order. Should it prove defective, two master bellfounders would be appointed, one representing each party, to ensure its quality and Palou promised to cast it as many times as necessary until the contracting party were satisfied. The fine for breach of the pacts was set at twenty-five Barcelona pounds.
Written sources document the creation of a third bell for the monastery of Sant Llorenç del Munt, an agreement for which was signed on June 21 st , 1503. 36 The historian Josep Gudiol attributed the creation of a fourth bell to the bellfounder in 1511, destined for the Barcelona basilica of Santa María del Mar, although this fact seems doubtful (see the next section).

The position of cannon maker and coppersmith of the city
On November 27 th of 1492, Palou took on the position of cannon maker and courer of the city of Barcelona. The Board's Book of Deliberations registers his appointment: En lo que es demanat per en Johan Palou, courer, en esser bombarder e courer de la Ciutat, lo dit Consell, attanent que lo dit Palou es persona ydonea e sufficient per als dits exercicis lo elegí en dits officis, sens salari algu que per acò no li sia per la Ciutat donat. 37 The position included the privilege of having the job assured for life, although without an assigned salary. Before his appointment, Palou had received municipal commissions related to the manufacture of "gunpowder and ammunition" (pilotes de bombarda): thus, on September 17 th , 1491, he charged 3 Barcelona pounds for half a hundredweight of gunpowder destined for the city's bombards. 38 On February 11 th of the following year he was paid several amounts for gunpowder for the new bombards, as well as motllos de coure per fer pilotes, pilotes de plom and some passavolants nous. 39 Throughout the year 1491, the city acquired several pieces of artillery, among which are two iron bombards made for the feast of Corpus Christi, the payment for which was ordered on April 27 th 1492, after checking its working order. 40 42 The city organized a great welcome celebration, as was customary in these cases, and commissioned the foundryman to make the festive luminaria lights and the trons of bombards and passavolants.
On August 23 rd , 1502, as a result of the deficiencies detected in the defence of the city, the Council discussed the need to renew artillery: Item hi fou proposat, com ells Consellers veent que la Ciutat stave en molta fretura de artellaria per defenslo sua, lo que portave gran derreputacio e vergonya a aquella per no poder se defendre dels enemics e piratas qui acostumen venir en la plage de les mars de la dita Ciutat, y amen pençat que fos feta tanta quanta seria necessaria per satisfer a la dita necessitat lo que ells no podien fer sens deliberació del present Consell (...). 43 That same year, the City Council named a new coppersmith, Pere Soler. 44 Palou was freed from these roles and went on to concentrate solely on artillery jobs. Between 1503 and 1504, he founded and tested a new bombard for the city: on October 22 nd , 1504, the municipal clavari (treasurer) authorized the payment of 20 lliures and 8 sous for gunpowder de ell comprada a obs de sperimentar la bombarda grossa novament feta a obs de la dita ciutat and for dos jornals a messos per la dita ciutat en lo esperiment fet de la dita bombarda. 45 Palou have passed away on 1506: as it is stated that the 23 rd of February fou proposat com lo offici de courer e bombarder, vacana de present, per mort d·en Johan Palou, ultim possehidor de aquell. 46 I should point out, however, that the historian Josep Gudiol documents a Joan Palou in 1511, on the occasion of the creation of a bell for Santa María del Mar, although this data has not yet been confirmed. 47 41. "moulds to make lead stones for the passavolant, and pulleys for the 'king of the hours', stones and handles for the passavolants. And for II quintals of gunpowder sold to the City, for the campfire made for the entrance of the King, the Queen and the firstborn into the City". AHCB. Fons municipals. Clavaria, 110, f. 206r. 42. Rúbriques de Bruniquer. Ceremonial dels Magnífics Consellers i Regiment de la ciutat de Barcelona. Barcelona: Impr. d'Henric, 1912: I, 265. 43. "it was proposed, as the Councillors saw that the City needed artillery to defend it, which entailed lack of reputation and shame in not being able to defend itself from the enemies and pirates who used to come to the beach and the seas of this City, that so much be done as is necessary to satisfy this need, which they could not do without the deliberation of the present Council". AHCB. Fons Municipals.

The house and workshop of Joan Palou seen through his widow's inventory (1526)
After Joan Palou died, all the properties belonging to the married couple became the property of the widow, Joana, who passed away at the beginning of the year 1526. The inventory of their goods was carried out between March 27 th and May 26 th of that same year, and public auction was held in the Lonja de Mar between April 11 th and June 1 st (see transcript in Annex 4.1.2). The document, kept in the section of Notarial Protocols of the Historical Archive of the City of Barcelona (AHCB), is a paper notebook consisting of 36 double-sided manuscripts. It has been maintained in good condition, although small losses are observed produced by biological agents currently inactive. The text, written over various days by the notary public Joan Palomeres, is divided into three parts: the first corresponds to the inventory of the personal property kept in the house-workshop that the couple had in Carrer de la Capilla de Marcús; the second, to the inventory of goods of the houses located near the Plaza de la Vila Nova, called les fusines ("foundries"); the third part corresponds to the public auction accounts.
The inventories occupy the first 22 pages. They are headed by a legal paragraph, written in Latin, followed by the property register written in Catalan. This is divided into chapters organised according to the different spaces that existed within the inventoried properties, headed by the corresponding title. The text, written in ink, presents some marginal and interlining deletions and annotations. The public auction is stipulated from page 23 and, unlike the inventory, it is organised by days. The contents are distributed into two columns that are arranged vertically: one on the left, for the registration of goods, and another on the right, reserved for economic valuation. This is divided into lliures, sous and diners and has the corresponding total sum at the end of each page. Between pages 25 and 26, a sheet is kept, dated October 30 th , 1527, where the fees of the notary public Joan Palomeres are broken down.
The buyers of the auctioned goods were mainly from Barcelona, except for three of them from Aragón, Valencia and Mallorca, respectively. They were professionals of different sectors (see Annex 4.2): there are eight metallurgical craftsmen, seven ecclesiastics, four notaries, three brokers, two apothecaries, two carpenters, two tailors, two peasant farmer, a wool carder, a wool weaver, a squire, a nursemaid, a painter, a baker, a paller and a sailor. Among the metal craftsmen, there are three blacksmiths, two scrap merchants, a goldsmith, a cannon maker and a hardware dealer who lived or had the workshop in front of the Lonja. And among the ecclesiastics, we find a friar of the disappeared convent of Carmen and the vicar of the basilica of Santa María del Pi.
The apothecary, Joan Solsona received the economic profit of the auction and allocated a part to pay for the works that the foundryman Antoni Rubio had carried out in the chapel of Marcús. The nursemaid, Tomassa Garcia, received 15 lliures, 8 sous and 10 diners for the 40 pounds of copper and the 59 pounds of brass she had advanced, at a rate of 15 diners per pound of copper and 14 diners per pound of brass. These facts lead us to believe that the workshop must have remained active after the death of Palou and remained perhaps under the responsibility of the aforementioned Antoni Rubio.
Joana's inventory of goods allows us to get a closer look at the working, social and economic reality of a Barcelona foundryman at the end of the 15 th century, through a detailed description of his real estate, his work tools and the personal property that he owned. The text also includes a complete list of the documentary archive that the craftsman kept in his Marcús house, the study of which provides various pieces of information regarding his working life and his personal and professional relationships.

Property and real estate
As we have already said, the Palou couple owned two properties: their main place of residence, located on the Carrer de la capella d'en Marcús -according to the fogatge of 1497 (book that recorded payment of tax for each house)-, 48 and another home called les fusines (illustration 1). The latter was located close to El Born, in an area away from the town centre known as Vilanova de la Mar. The term fusina ("foundry") evokes the image of a place or workshop where metals are founded 49 and its memory still survives in the toponymy of Barcelona today. The house-workshop near the chapel of Marcús was typical of Barcelona workingclass housing: it was divided into a ground floor and two upper floors, connected vertically by a staircase. The lower floor accommodated the workshop, the pastador ("dough kneading room") and the storage spaces; the first floor was intended for housing and the second floor housed the chicken coop, the attic and other rooms 50 The access from the street was through two doors that gave way to a hall or lobby. Near it, in an unspecified location, was the pastador ("dough kneading 48. Iglésies, Josep. El fogatge de 1497: estudi i transcripció. Barcelona: Rafael Dalmau, 1992: I, 134. 49. (...) degun payroler (...) no gos fondre ni fer lurs fusines (...)("no coppersmith (...) dares to melt or to make foundry"). Coromines, Joan. Diccionari etimològic i complementari de la llengua catalana. Barcelona: Curial, 1980-1991: IV, 88 (doc. No. 1372 room"), a space that, judging by the inventoried objects, was used as a cellar. On the same ground floor two porches or galleries are registered. Although the text does not allow us to identify its architectural structure or its exact location, the word porch evokes the idea of the arcaded gallery of an interior courtyard that would be located in the central or rear part of the dwelling, a common element in medieval Barcelona's domestic architecture. 51 The home consisted of a kitchen, a living-dining room, a cambra major ("large chamber"), a smaller one and a retret de la recambra ("slightly set back third one"). The text does not allow us to interpret the layout of these spaces, but it is possible to think that they would follow the typical criteria of Mediterranean houses: that is, they would be articulated around a central room (the living-dining room). The second floor was organized around two chambers, one of which lead to a chicken coop. It was the brightest, thanks to the light that came through a window that faced the street. It must have been used as a warehouse as there are various wooden boxes and a large jug with a hundredweight of white beans, to make clocks, registered inside it. It should be noted, in this regard, that the inventory records various ampoules ("recipients") for hourglasses.
The lobby on the ground floor was presided over by a large bronze bell, of about 3 hundredweights, next to a wooden table and various boxes and cabinets where tools of the trade and copper objects of all kinds were kept (candelabras, taps, bells, ornamental appliques...). The bell could be put in relation with the work that the foundryman, Antoni Rubio, was doing at that time in the chapel of Marcús, and that they are mentioned in public auction.
At the entrance of the house there were, among many other utensils, various pieces of artillery: two small falconets, some mascles of copper, recambres de bombardes ("bombar chambers") and 25 pairs of copper moulds to buydar pedres de artillaria ("cast round shots"). Half a barrel of salpetre ("nitre in its natural state") and a bag of refined nitre are also documented. Inside a cupboard, he kept a wooden pastera per pastar ("kneading tool") with gunpowder and, in the attic, protected from the damp, he stored two baskets full of gunpowder destined for this same type of weapon.
The pastador ("dough kneading room") was dominated by a lliurador ("measurer or charger"), a piece of wood furniture traditionally used to knead flour. In this case, it was used to knead the clay with which they made the moulds and templates for the pieces to be cast. Among the various objects documented in this space, we find una scopeta de coure ab·la guarnicio de fust ("a copper shotgun with a wooden hilt") and a large quantity of copper objects: barrels, tubs, buckets, pots, basins, cauldrons, etc. The text does not clarify if they were pieces in use or recently manufactured and stored for sale.
On one of the porches, numerous tools and pieces of equipment are documented that can be associated with a metal casting furnace. The inventory registers a fornell ("iron furnace") to cast metals, with its pulley, medium sized bellows ab dos canyons 51. Graus, Ramon. "El gros de l'obra a les cases: parets, sostres i cobertes abans i a partir de la industrialització". Les Arts aplicades a Barcelona. Barcelona: Àmbit-Ajuntament de Barcelona, 2018: 28-29. de ferro, abtes per manxar als fornals de fonre metals ("with two iron cannons, suitable for blowing into the furnaces of melting metals"), five large iron tongs abtes per traure los cresols del fornell ("suitable for taking the crucibles out of the furnace"), five iron bars abtes per atiar al foc per·al offici de courer ("suitable to stoke the fire for the craft of coppersmith") and fourteen iron hooks abtes per als mollos de buydar ("suitable for casting moulds").
The second porch was reserved for drilling, turning and filing of the cast pieces. Among other tools documented, we also find a large gimlet, five turning irons, an anvil and a wooden bench with its screw, used to file the cast products. Also registered are a large number of wooden and clay moulds to cast pieces of artillery.
The furniture of the house was mostly made of wood and was typical of a craftsman's home of this period: mainly the ironed finished boxes, wardrobes, folding tables, chairs and stools. The living room featured a large table, with its chairs, and a tinell ("wooden sideboard") where the luxury tableware was displayed. It would probably have been placed at the top of the stairs, as can be seen in the few examples that have survived to this day. 52 The presence of a chessboard, accompanied by their respective pieces and mats, leads us to think that the Palou's standard of living must have been quite comfortable.
Inside the boxes and wardrobes all kinds of pieces of clothing and household objects were stored, mixed with foundry tools and valuable objects -such as a figure of Jesus and four silver spoons stored in their respective cases. In the dining room there was a box with ceramic and wooden foundry moulds and in the attic another with broken crucibles. The large chamber, or bedroom, featured a llit encaixat ("fitted bed") made of poplar wood, painted in yellow, provided with a paillasse and three mattresses full of Sardinian wool. The chests that surrounded it contained the deceased woman's most prized possessions: 36 pearls of medium size, two ring stones that had not been set, various psalms books, a Book of Hours of parchment and a leather case, in the form of a booklet, with a weight and some slabs to write on. Inside a cupboard, there were two bottles full of aigua nafa ("orange blossom water") and rose water that Joana must have used to perfume the room. The inventory also records curtains decorated with plant motifs.
The small bedroom also had a fitted bed. The furniture was completed by a large brass candelabra with six arms, a chest of poplar wood and a couple of altarpieces with the representation of the Virgin and the Lord. The chest contained sheets, pillowcases and various pieces of clothing along with wooden patterns to cast letters, kept in a white bag. In a drawer of the same piece of furniture, patterns for seals and mortar ribbing, two jambinets and various copper pieces are recorded.
The Palou's kitchen had two wooden shelves with a large copper pitcher. Among the wide variety of copper and brass pots, there were iron objects typical of medieval kitchens, such as grills, stoves or spits. There are also two copper fogons de jueu ("hearth of Jew"), one of them with two feet. 52. Pascual i Miró, Eva. "Els tinells, les taules i els seients", L'art gòtic a Catalunya. 8: Les arts de l'objecte. Barcelona: Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2008: 320. The staircase that connected to the first and second floors gave access to two chambers, located on the left, and a large room on the right. It had a large bed, covered by a bed cover decorated with the shield of Aragon and crowned by a canopy of black curtains bordered in white. The furniture was completed by some arquibancs ("storage benches"), various iron-finished boxes filled with clothing and a poplar wood platform covered with coloured rugs. 53 An altarpiece with an image of the virgin and baby Jesus was hung on the wall, surrounded by other figures. As with the rest of the house, the chests in the master bedroom kept all kinds of objects related to the craft of metal casting: cambines, taps, saucepans, bells, moulds...
The Palou's kept their archive on a landing on the staircase, on the section that connected the first and second floors (See specific section). The documents shared the space with two jugs filled with olives and various patterns of bells and figures made with lead.
The Palous were owners of a second property: the so-called houses of Les Fusines or Vila Nova. The plural name could make us think of a group of houses of a single body subdivided or annexed by the same owner, a custom that appears documented in medieval Barcelona. 54 The les Fusines houses were entirely used as an artillery workshop. This assumption is supported by the presence of gunpowder and tools related to the manufacture of firearms.
The house of Vila Nova consisted of a ground floor and one upper floor. It was accessed via an entrance that gave way to two botigues ("spaces") of different sizes. Documented in them are various moulds to cast copper pots and bells, as well as two bellows with their respective nozzles: one large and the other medium de fornal de argenter ("goldsmith's forge"). The text does not clarify whether the large bellows were associated with a forge or a melting furnace.
Next to the entrance was the botiga xica ("small shop -or store-"), where products manufactured in the workshop were sold. This is confirmed by the board that I understand to be arranged as a counter. The botiga gran ("large shop -or store-"), next to the previous one, contained a lot of tools of the trade. The presence of a mill and two stone mortars used to grind and chop gunpowder, proves the industrial use of those spaces as gunpowder mills and artillery workshops. This is confirmed by the numerous boxes filled with gun and cannon powder, located in different corners of the house, along with sacks of coal and sofre vert de cano ("green cannon sulfre"). The gunpowder was stored in wooden barrels or in ceramic glazed pots to protect it from the damp.
The first floor of les fusines was divided into three spaces: a porch or gallery, a dining room, located above the botiga xica, and a third adjacent chamber. In the dining room there were various tools related to the forge and foundry: iron clamps to extract the crucibles from the fornal ("forge -or furnace-"), a small anvil, a large set of Roman scales accompanied by lead weights, a saw and four irons to stoke the fire. 53. The estrada was a typical place in houses on the peninsula reserved for female social life. Commonly linked to the bedroom, they consisted of a wooden platform covered with rugs and furnished with seats and cushions. Rodríguez Bernís, Sofía. "El mueble medieval", Mueble español: estrado y dormitorio. Madrid: Comunidad de Madrid, Consejería de Cultura, 1990: 42-47. 54. Graus, Ramon. "El gros de l'obra... ": 29.

The archive
Joana's inventory refers to the documentary archive that the Palou couple kept in their Marcús house (see Annex 4.3). It was basically composed of testaments, property documents, cens and accounting books related to the activity of the workshop. The types of documents recorded are the following: • 10 books of delivery notes, 7 large ones and 12 small notebooks. The chronological interval of these documents spans the entire 15 th century, which leads us to suppose that the oldest ones correspond to the professional activity of Joan Palou I and the later ones to that of Joan Palou. • Copies of wills, inheritances and testamentary transfers. • Notary documents related to the purchase / sale of real estate, especially the house located in Vila Nova. • Cens paid for the Vila Nova house between 1525 and 1526, with an explicit list of the amounts corresponding to the last receipts. Among these documents is the Libre dels cens de la fusina.
In the accounting books, Palou recorded all the settlements related to the economic activity of the workshop, that is to say, the expenses related to the purchase / sale of metals and the payments and / or debts. Complex and long-term commissions, such as the casting of a piece of artillery or a bell, required high technical training, a planned accounting strategy and strict control of economic management. For this, the craftsman opened a workbook where he recorded every detail from the acquisition of material to the payment of the various craftsmen who were involved in the project (smelters, blacksmiths, carpenters, rope makers...). A good example of this is the workbook for the clock and the bell of the castle of Perpignan, written in the year 1356 and currently preserved in the Archive of the Crown of Aragon. 55  The inventory records another book worthy of mention: it is a manuscript signed by Palou himself and decorated with red and blue capital letters. In it he wrote down the accounts relating to the corambre and the debts of the banc dels hereus. The archive also specifies numerous testamentary documents and estates of the direct relatives of the Palou couple, as well as testamentary clauses of the wool carder, Pere Vidal, and of the bellfounder, Berenguer Vidal. These last manuscripts are among the sources relating to the Houses of Vila Nova, and next to a period of payment dated in 1408 and signed by Berenguer Vidal himself. The date refers to the years of activity of Pere and Joan Palou I. I do not know if there was any kinship or professional relationship between Palou and Berenguer Vidal -teacher / apprentice, for example-, but what I can be sure of is that Vidal did the same job as Joan Palou: it is confirmed by a document kept in the manual of the notary Joan Reniu, dated in the year 1423, where he appears cited as master bellfounder. 56 Berenguer Vidal may have been part of another line of Barcelona foundry masters, whose most well-known member is Bernat Vidal. This craftsman was at the service of the Councillors of Barcelona and the kings Pedro de Portugal and Juan II, for whom he cast various pieces of artillery. In 1464, on the occasion of the appointment of Antoni Llonch as the fourth councillor of the city of Barcelona, he cast a magnificent mortar currently kept in the Museu d'Història de la Ciutat (illustration 2). 57 In 1472, in thanks for the work done, Juan II granted him the rights to a mill in the Plaça de la Blanquería in Barcelona. 58 Vidal exemplifies, more than any other craftsman, the close relationships between cannon makers and high dignitaries and institutional representatives.
The inventory of Joana Palou features a series of documents that tell us about the couple's properties in detail. Two of them are dated November 7 th , 1407 and June 9 th , 1408 and confirm the sale of a house. The house of Marcús must have been bought during the first third of the 15 th century. This is confirmed by the fact that, among the delivery notes of Joan Palou I's account book, there were those de la casa davant la capella de'n Marchus ("of the house in front of the Marcús Chapel").
The evolution of the houses of Vila Nova or de les fusines can be followed with more precision. The inventory of Joana Palou's property allows provides an insight into the working, social and economic reality of a Barcelona cannon maker at the end of the 15 th century. In-depth analysis informs us of the daily life of this craftsman by identifying his property and real estate, domestic environment, work spaces and the tools used in his profession. The text also provides the opportunity to investigate other complementary aspects of a more social nature, such as the relationships established with his peers and with other artisan collectives.
Palou's professional biography is based on the sequence of documented works and tasks and the record of the activity carried out within the municipal council. It should be noted that the assignment of cannon makers to a strategic sector directly related to power structures, undoubtedly determined their privileged position within the menestralia (medieval artisan class).

Barcelona, 30 th May 1495
Chapters signed between the coppersmith, Joan Palou, and the jurats ("magistrates") and worker of the church and the parish of Sant Pere d'Octavià, located in the municipality of Sant Cugat del Vallès, for the construction of a new bell. [AHPB.